Will the real Balaram Patil please stand up?

Panvel constituency has six candidates with the same name; one from the PWP and five Independents

Panvel constituency has six candidates with the same name; one from the PWP and five Independents

On October 13, when voters in Panvel enter the booth at the local school and choose their candidate for the Assembly, on the EVM list before them, will be six candidates with the same name.

Six Balaram Patils five Independents and one, who claims to be the "original" from the Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) are in the fray. The only thing in their names that sets them apart is their middle names.

Ploy

The PWP's Balaram Dattatray Patil is peeved. "This is a ploy by the rival party. They are confusing voters, so I don't win. But my party and I have a strong hold over the constituency.
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Anybody who thinks they can defeat me by fielding candidates who share my name, is wrong," said Patil, whose strongest rival is Congress's Prashant Thakur.



In fact, the PWP, which has a cup and saucer as its election symbol, is so influential in the area that the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance decided not to field their candidate and offer complete support to Patil.

Voters' quandary

Panvel resident Madhu P said the same name will certainly create confusion among voters, as all the Balaram Patils have been campaigning for the elections.
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"It will be very difficult, as the voters will have to identify the candidates with their middle names. We will pay attention to the party symbol."

Added another voter P R Vishwanathan, "The same name will create some confusion, but it will be easy to recognise the symbols."
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Despite repeated attempts, Pandurang Makhdoom, deputy collector of Raigad district, was unavailable for comment.

Do you know?

Five Meenakshi Patils are contesting the Assembly polls from Alibaug this year.
In the 1996 Lok Sabha polls, two candidates by the name of Datta Patil contested from Colaba.
Two Pappu Kalanis contested from Ulhasnagar in the 2004 Assembly elections.

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